Manna For Your Monday

...On A Tuesday.

"For no matter how many promises God has made, they are "Yes" in Christ. And so through Him the "Amen" is spoken by us to the glory of God." 2 Corinthians 1:20

I love that verse. It brings such confidence to my prayers. If ever I wonder when God is going to say 'yes' to a request, all I have to remember is this verse. In Christ, all of God's promises are "yes".
Let me show you what I mean.

Say I am worn out, stressed, exhausted, tired, weary... are you getting the picture? I need a break! So I pray for relief. Now, it could go one of two ways. I could find immediate relief, or it could seem that God isn't answering my prayer. But then I remember 2 Corinthians 1: 20 and open my Bible to read what God has to say about my situation.

Jesus said in Matthew 11: 28-30 "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."

Jesus promised to give me rest. He said his yoke was easy and His burden light. Those are promises I can take to the spiritual bank. But what is my part in it? Ah, there's the hang-up, at least for me. You see, there are several things that must happen before I can receive His rest. If I don't realize my part, I will constantly think God's promises are not true for me. There is always a my-part and a God-part.

1) I must be weary and burdened. Seems strange, but its God's paradoxical wisdom. Its like trying to rescue a drowning person. You must let them lose all strength before going out to rescue them or they will (either in twisted logic or complete fear) think they can use their own strength to "help" you help them and both of you drown. If there is any strength left, the person will use it. Only when they are completely helpless are they able to be rescued.

So it is with me. I think I have something to offer God; I think I can "help" God help me. But that is not how He works. He needs the willing heart and nothing more; no works, lest I should boast. I must be completely weary of trying, burdened and exhausted with my own efforts. And then, when I cry out and say I have nothing left, our dear Savior replies, "Yes, now you are ready for My rest. Come and learn the real way, My way."

2)I must recognize that God's rest and mine look different. His rest doesn't mean I get to relax and take it easy and have no responsibilities in life. His rest may or may not include a cup of coffee and chocolate. (or whatever your preferred stress-reliever may be!) His rest requires that I take off one yoke and put on another. His yoke. Praise the Lord that His yoke is gentle! He says His yoke is easy! And I dare say, it is much easier than the heavy yoke of living in the flesh. (Which is what we wear when we aren't in step with Him.)

3) I must be willing to learn His way. My way certainly has not done well for me, especially if I'm at the point of weary and burdened. I must learn His way and it invariably means learning something new. This can be hard for change-wary-people. But in order for my soul to be refreshed, I must be willing to learn life His way.

I enjoy how the Message translates those verses: "Are you tired?...Come to Me. Get away with Me and you'll recover your life. I'll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with Me and work with Me - watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won't lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with Me and you'll learn to live freely and lightly."

That is a marvelous promise I need on any day of the week...thank God it is "Yes" in Jesus!

Thoughts From The Heart

Epiphany, according to Webster's Dictionary: an intuitive grasp of reality through something (as an event) usually simple and striking; an illuminating discovery, realization, or disclosure.

I had an epiphany Sunday during worship. And according to Webster's definition, I had an "intuitive grasp of reality through something simple". Truly, it was simple. We were singing praise and worship songs. I breathed in, the cold air hit my throat and I thought, "That was refreshing." And in the next nano-second realized that what was TRULY refreshing was what that breath was for; I was about to use it to praise God. A simple act like breathing taking on a divine characteristic. In the next few moments I contemplated how amazing it was; breathing in and out for the sole purpose of praising God. What better, purer motive could there be for breathing? Praising God, making the point of my existence worthwhile, doing what I was born to do...it was quite refreshing.

What are we using our breath for today? Are we holding it in? Trying not to blast the person that just earned a piece of our mind? Are we using it to share a juicy tid-bit of information? Are we blessing our families with our breath? Are we cursing the driver that thinks they can multi-task by texting and driving and putting on make-up at the same time? (Not that I have EVER encountered a situation like that...I'm just saying...) What are we using our breath for today? Praising God goes beyond being a Proverbs 31 woman, where the "law of kindness is on her tongue"; praising God moves us to kingdom building and giving God the glory due Him. I want my breath to be used for eternity. How about you?

Psalm 150

Praise the LORD.

Praise God in His sanctuary;

praise Him in His mighty heavens.

Praise Him for His acts of power;

praise Him for His surpassing greatness.

Praise Him with the sounding of the trumpet

praise Him with the harp and lyre,

Praise Him with tambourine and dancing,

praise Him with the strings and flute,

Praise Him with the clash of cymbals,

praise Him with resounding cymbals.

Let everything that has breath praise the LORD.

Praise the LORD.

~Submitted by Jody

Wednesday Night Women's Bible Study

Did you know we have a Wednesday Night Women's Bible study? It's led by Muriel White at 7:00pm in the Education Building on the 2nd floor. (That's the old church building upstairs, in case you aren't sure.) Muriel shares a bit about their study group:

"We meet in the middle of the week to focus on building relationships with other women in the church, supporting one another in prayer and studying relevant topics in order to grow in our faith. We welcome anyone that would like to be refreshed spiritually to join us. Warning - come prepared to laugh a lot, maybe cry a little but leave rejoicing because of our time together."

This is an open study group, which means you can join at any time! So stop on in and take some time to refresh yourself with great fellowship and an encouraging word from the Word.

Welcome!

Welcome to the Shady Grove Wesleyan Women's Ministry Blog! Whew! That's a mouthful! How about we just call it, the E3 Blog.

What is E3? Great question! E3 is what the women's ministry leadership team came up with to identify their purpose as a team. And that purpose is:

" to refresh the hearts of the women at Shady Grove by offering opportunities for enjoyment, encouragement and equipping."

Do you see it? The three "e's"? Enjoy, Encourage, Equip = E3!

You can read more about E3 if you click on the tab at the top of this page called: Our Purpose.

We are excited about this blog! We hope you will come back to read our weekly devotionals, try out a recipe, or leave a comment. This is certainly not a substitute for connecting with one another in person, but merely a tool to use to enhance that connection.

A special thank-you to Leslie Long who created the banner for this blog. Not only did she work to perfection on the blog, but she has also created our E3 logo. We are so blessed to have her partner with us to communicate the goals and purpose for women's ministry. Thank you Leslie!